Cigarette holder and ash receptacle



April 19, 1955 P. 1 TILLER 2,706,484

CIGARETTE HOLDER AND ASH RECEPTACLE Filed Aug. 25, 1952 G2 Percy L.Mier; INVENToR.

enigma# %qs United States Patent O CIGARETTE HOLDER AND ASH RECEPTACLEPercy L. Tiller, Richmond, Va., assignor of seventy-live per cent toCarrie Virginia Tiller, Richmond, Va.

Application August 25, 1952, Serial No. 306,212

Claims. (Cl. 131-175) The present invention relates to smokers articlesand accessories, generally classied, and has particular reference to anovel ash collector and container and a cigarette holder, which iscombined therewith and either permanently or removably attached thereto.

Construed somewhat more specifically, the invention appertains to an ashreceptacle and cigarette holder combined, wherein the receptacle is inthe form of a tray, said tray being slidably mounted in an open endedsheathlike casing and said cigarette holder being mounted atop thecasing with its outer end flush with the outer end of the casing and itsinner end projecting beyond the inner end of the casing so that when thetray is slid and projected to its open position, it underlies thatportion of the cigarette projecting beyond the holder, whereby toreceive and collect the ashes while the cigarette is being smoked.

One improvement has to do with the aforementioned combination holder andreceiver, wherein the holder is optionally usable and is detachablymounted atop the aforementioned casing, making it possible to use theholder and receiver in conjunction with each other or to detach theholder and merely employ the receiver as a pocket accessory into whichashes, burnt matches and cigarette butts may be placed, temporarilystored, and carried in ones pocket when the smoker is present in a placewhere conventional-type ash trays and receivers are not convenientlyavailable to him.

Another object of the invention has to do with a novel lid feature. Thatis to say, a lid is slidably mounted in keyways or grooves providedtherefor in the casing, said lid serving to close an extending inner endportion of the ash tray when said portion projects beyond thecorresponding inner end of the casing and when the other end portion ofthe tray is enclosed within the contines of said casing.

Briey summarized, the preferred embodiment of the invention ischaracterized by a sheath-like elongated casing open at its ends, a traytelescopically slidable in said casing, said tray being of a lengthgreater than the length of the casing, being open along its top andclosed at its respective inner and outer ends, the outer closed endabutting the corresponding end of the casing and having outstandingmarginal stop anges to limit the movement of the tray in a directioninwardly and outwardly of the casing. The stop flanges engage and cometo rest against said outer end while the inner end of the tray projectsbeyond the corresponding inner end of the casing. A lid, which isslidable in the casing, covers the open top portion of the projectingportion of the tray, and said tray is slidable relative to said lid. Theupper longitudinal edges of the side walls of the tray are provided withan elongated lid accommodating and seating notches commensurate inlength with the over-all length of the lid, the longitudinal edgeportions of the lid overlapping cooperating edges of said side walls andbeing seated in the respective notches. The inner end of the lid carriesa depending follower iinger engageable and cooperable with the adjacentend wall of the tray. Thus, when the tray is slid from an open ashreceiving position to a closed carrying position, the inner end of thetray engages the linger, slides a portion of the lid outwardly beyondthe casing and the lid thus covers the then otherwise open projectingportion of the tray, whereby the complete tray, partly enclosed in thecasing and partly covered by the lid, provides a satisfactory carryingcontainer for ashes, butts, matches and refuse.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparentfrom the following description 'and the accompanying sheet of drawings.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein like numerals areemployed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure l is an elevational view of the combined cigarette holder and ashreceiver and carrier, constructed in accordance with the invention andshowing the manner of using the same, a portion of the casing beingbroken away and shown in section.

Figure 2 is an elevational View of the holder shown in Figure 1, andshowing the tray slid from left to right with the lid and cooperatingportion of the tray projecting and covered for carrying purposes;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the holder shown in Figure 2 in adirection from left to right;

Figure 4 is a cross-section taken on the vertical line 4 4 of Figure 2looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a central longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 5-5of Figure 3 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing a modifiedform of the invention;

Figure 7 is a view of the holder shown in Figure 6, with the tray closedand with the greater portions appearing in section; and

Figure 8 is a section taken on the vertical line 8 8 of Figure 6 lookingin the direct-ion of the arrows.

By way of introduction to the detailed description, it is to be pointedout that the term from left to right and similar terms, such as innenouter, etc., are restricted to the position of the views illustrated inthe drawings.

Attention is lirst directed to the form of the invention covered inFigures 1-5 inclusive.

The holder for the cigarette 10 is denoted by the numeral 12 and is of amore or less conventional type, having a tapering bit 14 at the inner orright hand end. The outer or left hand end is denoted by the numeral 16.

The receiver means comprises, as before revealed, a sheath-like casingof suitable light weight rigid material, the same being denoted by thenumeral 18. It is of the cross-sectional shape shown in the lowerportion of Figure 4 and comprises a flat top wall 20, a curved bottomwall 22 and spaced parallel side walls 24-24. This casing is open at itsouter and inner ends and on its interior it is provided with grooves26-26 (see Figure 4) forming keyways for the longitudinal edge portionsof the projectible and retractable lid 28. The inner end of the lid isprovided with an L-shaped bracket, the depending portion of whichprovides a lid actuating linger 30. The lid is removable by sliding thesame off the right end of the holder. Suitable metal or equivalentstraps are anchored at their respective ends at 32-32, said straps beingloopshaped as at 34-34 to suitably embrace and removably hold thecigarette holder 12 in position atop the top wall 20 of the casing. Thestraps are shaped and positioned so that the outer end 16 of the holderis normallyush with the corresponding end of the casing. The inner end14 of the holder projects beyond the inner end of the casing.

The projectible and retractable collecting tray or receptacle is denotedby the numeral 36. It is of a length greater than the length of thecasing and of a cross-section corresponding with the cross-section ofthe passage which extends through the casing. It is open along its topand embodies a curved bottom wall 38 and spaced parallel side walls404G. The closed outer end, denoted at 42 in Figures 3 and 5, has aprojecting marginal ange 44 providing a stop element. This engages theouter end of the casing, as shown in Figure 2, when the tray is closedand it limits sliding of the tray in a direction from left to rightrelative to the casing.

When the tray is in its closed position (Figures 2 and 5), a portion ofthe open top is confined in the casing and is thus covered by the topwall of the casing. The protruding portion of the tray is, however,covered by the slidable lid 28. The lid is of a length commensurate withthe length of the casing. The marginal edge portions of the lid overlapand rest in lengthwise accommo- Patented Apr. 19, 1955 dation notches 46provided therefor in the upper edge portions of the side walls of thetray. The notches 46-46 extend to the end of the right hand end of thetray and terminate at their opposite ends at 48.

The aforementioned finger 30 comes into play during the'act of shiftingthe lid from its position within the casing to its protected traycovering position. It will be apparent, in this connection, that thefinger 30 cooperates with the exterior surface of the right hand closingend 50 of the tray. Y

Assuming that the tray is closed as in Figure 2 and one desires to usethe construction in the manner shown in Figure 1, it is necessary toforcibly slide the tray and lid, as a unit, from closed position shownin Figure 2 to the ready-to-use position shown in Figure 1. In doing so,the lid 28 slides and recedes into the casing and the left hand portionof the tray continues to move and is slid out of the casing so that theopen top of the tray then underlies the cigarette to trap the ashes.When the tray is slid from left to right and, thus, closed up again, theflanges 44 engage the left hand end of the casing and effect the desiredover-all closing of the parts. However, and before this occurs, the endwall 50 of the tray engages the finger 30 and now the tray and lid, as aunit, slide to the position seen in Figure 2, at which time the lidcovers what would be an otherwise open top portion of the tray.

In the position of the parts illustrated in Figure 2, the ashes andother refuse are trapped and contained and may be carried about in onespocket with requisite safety'.

It is repeated that the casing 18 and tray 36 may be used in conjunctionwith each other without the cigarette holder; or, the cigarette holdermay be attached (Figures 1 to 5) and employed in combination therewithin the manner illustrated in the drawings.

It may be desirable to use moldable commercial plastics in making thedevice and, under these circumstances, the holder and casing arepermanently joined together, as shown in the modification in Figures 6,7 and 8. In this adaptation, the open ended casing is denoted by thenumeral 52 and the holder at 54, this being integrated with the top ofthe casing as at 56. Otherwise, the construction and operation is thesame as described and the same numerals employed in Figures 1 to 5 areemployed in Figures 6, 7 and 8, except 52, 54 and 56.

It s to be noted that there is an L-shaped clip 58 fixed at the lefthand end of the casing and this constitutes a stop and serves to limitthe sliding movement of the lid in a direction from left to right and italso checks the movement of the tray in the same direction when the wall50 comes into engagement therewith, whereby to thus prevent the tray 36from being pulled out too far in respect to the casing 18.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the inventionrelates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the inventionafter considering the description in connection with the drawings.Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in the shape, size and arrangement of details comingwithin the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actualpractice, if desired.

.Having described the invention, what is claimed as new 1s:

1. A pocket-type ash collector and carrier comprising a sheath-likeelongated casing having open ends, a tray telescopically slidable insaid casing, said tray being of a length greater than the length of thecasing, beingopen along its top and closed at its ends, the outer closedend having marginal stop anges engageable with the outer end of saidcasing, the inner end of said tray projecting beyond the inner end ofsaid casing, and a lid covering the open top portion of the projectingportion of said tray, said lid being slidably mounted in said casing,and said tray being slidable relative to said lid.

2. The structure defined in claim 2, wherein said tray is channel-shapedin cross-section and includes a bottom and side walls, the upper edgeportions of the side walls being provided with elongated notchescommensurate in length with the over-all length of said lid, thelongitudinal edge portions of said lid being seated on the upper edgeportions of said side walls and located in said notches, the outer endof said lid having a depending finger engageable with the adjacent endwall of said tray.

3. The structure defined in claim 2, wherein the outer end of saidcasing is provided with a depending stop for the outer end of said lid,whereby the sliding movement of the lid in one direction is limited byway of said stop.

4. An ash receptacle comprising an elongated casing open at its ends, anash collecting tray telescopically slidable in said casing, said traybeing closed at its endsy and open at its top and of a length greaterthan the lengthof the casing, and a lid covering one end portion of theopen top of said tray, said lid being slidably mounted in said casing,they longitudinal edge portions of said lid resting on the upper edgeportions of the side walls of the tray and being restrained from upwardmovement by the overlying wall portion of said casing, and said traybeing slidable relative to and independently of said lid.

5. A pocket-type ash collector and carrier comprising an elongatedsheath-like casing open at its ends, a tray slidably mounted in saidcasing, said tray being open at its top and closed at its respectiveends and of a length greater than the length of said casing, the outerclosed ends of said tray having marginal outstanding stop flangesadapted to abut the adjacent end of said casing and to limit the slidingmovement of the tray in one direction, the upper edge portions of theside walls of said tray being provided with lid accommodating andseating notches, a tray covering lid slidably mounted in said casing andcontacting the lower face of the top wall of the casing, said lid beingof a length commensurate with the length of the casing and thelongitudinal edge portions thereof being seated in said notches andoverlapping the underlying edge portions of the side walls of the tray,a depending finger carried by the inner end of said lid, the adjacentclosed end wall of said tray being releasably engageable with saidfinger, and a stop attached to and depending at right angles from thetop wall of said casing at the outer end of the casing, said stopdepending into the path of movement of said lid and the outer end ofsaid lid being engageable with said stop to limit the sliding movementof the lid in one direction in respect to said casing, and the innerclosed end of said tray being adapted to abut said stop to limit thesliding movement of said tray in one direction relative to said casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

